Sunday, 2 May 2010

Many people believe that the Conservative Party is significantly different from the Labour and Liberal Democratic Parties. This is no longer true. It has, especially under Mr Cameron, become a copy of those parties on all the issues about which its own voters care most. I go into this in far more detail than is possible here, in my new book 'The Cameron Delusion' ( This is a revised paperback edition of 'The Broken Compass') . I recommend this to any readers who wish to follow these arguments further. But here, for everyone, is a concise guide to the reasons why proper patriotic conservatives should not support the Tory Party at this election. I don't and won't offer any advice on how else they should vote -except to urge them not to vote for the BNP . I would also stress that there is no duty to vote when you are offered an insulting lack of choice. In fact, I would stress that there is an important right not to vote, which sometimes needs to be used against politicians who treat us with contempt. I will not be voting in this election. What follows is a short summary of the main reasons why the Tory party has forfeited the trust - and ought to forfeit the votes - of its traditional supporters.

UPDATE: In a striking display of repartee I have just been notified that a couple of friends are going to pre-election meetings with their respective university societies - but none of them have the right to vote in this country (international students). Noble they are for interesting themselves in a future they cannot influence, it would have been far better if their peers -with voting rights- could have attended those meetings. But I suppose that is a prerequisite for being cool today; do not care about what happens tomorrow. Thanks for that Labour. Yet, I am young cynic so I will reiterate my prediction: this election will mean sweet bloody all. It is the next one that really counts. Now we are basically being asked to pick from three identical shitty old Pandora boxes made from rotten IKEA wood. I would rather have an election where there was more difference between party policies than their leaders' ties.

I think it is worth to note that key parts of the electorate may not consciously have embraced the statist and green and politically correct ideologies of the Establishment. But they have been desensitised to them. They regard any alternative as eccentric or even alarming. They have stopped questioning.

4 comments:

It is very true - Labour and Liberal Democrats have shifted right taking a lot of traditional conservative ground. The Conservatives have shifted left, giving us three parties that are jostling for the same vote.

In this graph, if you scroll down you can see how they have moved over time. http://www.politicalcompass.org/ukparties2010 you

Also note how all the parties are now centre/right and Plaid, Green and SNP have taken up the left mantle.

Where Power Went

In the Palace of Westminster, exercised on behalf of elected representatives of the people. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

1971 FCO 30/104

"The transfer of major executive responsibilities to the bureaucratic Commission in Brussels will exacerbate popular feeling of alienation from government. To counter this feeling, strengthened local and regional democratic processes… and effective Community regional economic and social policies will be essential… there would be a major responsibility on HM Government and on all political parties not to exacerbate public concern by attributing unpopular policies to the remote and unmanageable workings of the Community."